James Berry {A.} (~1690 - ~1756) is one of the two oldest, traceable people in this lineage bearing the Berry surname, the other being John Berry, who is here interpreted as being the brother of James Berry. Due to the repetitive use of the given name, James, in this family group, this individual is referred to as the elder James Berry in this report. While there seems to be a small body of unverifiable data that speculates on certain aspects of his life, there is very little information from primary or secondary sources documenting this man, and the few sources available merely record the last several years of his life. From the available information it appears that James Berry was probably born in northern Ireland or Scotland, and may have been married twice. Unsurprisingly, this data is quite incomplete and contradictory, expressing disagreement on his age, who he married, the identity of his children, where and when he emigrated to the American colonies, and when he died. Some sources claim that he had moved to Lancaster County, Pennsylvania before 1718, while other references don't place him in the American colonies until about 1740 when he settled in Westmoreland County, Virginia. What is known with certainty is that by late 1749 or early 1750 he had moved to Augusta County, Virginia.

The available sources estimate his birth as occurring between 1673 and 1709(93,95), 1690(96,99,101), 1692(94), and 1700.(100) He had two known children, George and Thomas Berry, although only one (George Berry) has been identified through primary sources. While there is no available birth date for George, Thomas is believed to have been born in 1718(.7,56,96,99) If Thomas's father (i.e. this James Berry) was at least 20 years old at the time of his birth, James' birth date could be approximately 1698. Based on this analysis and the available sources, a fair approximation of the birth date of James Berry seems to be about 1690. Defining his date of death is equally ambiguous. The various sources give dates ranging from 1789 to 1808(93,95), 1749(94,99), 1756,(96) sometime between 1751 and 18111 after 1751(100), and 1779(.98 ) As will be shown later in the report, the 1749 and 1779 dates represent the deaths of two other men named James Berry, and the mid 1750's references are related to the fact that this James Berry disappears from Augusta County, Virginia court records (the only known primary source material for this James Berry) about that time. With this large range of birth and death dates, it's hard to imagine that it is the same individual being described! Likewise, when considering the extreme diversity in the dates, there is, understandably, also some disagreement in defining the places of his birth and death. Most sources indicate that this James Berry was born in Ireland1,98,99, or, more specifically, northern Ireland (possibly Donegal)101, and they typically place him in Augusta County, Virginia94,101, for his death. As will be noted below in the section entitled "Timeline of James Berry and Elizabeth ? (Unknown Last Name)", James Berry can be traced in Augusta County, Virginia from 1750 through 175621, and, in several of his last entries, he appears to be old and in poor health. While there is no direct verification from primary or secondary sources, based on the content of several Augusta County court entries, James Berry is here considered to have passed away in Augusta County, Virginia not long after the spring of 1756.(21,201).

When it comes to the identity of James Berry's spouse(s), there is a greater level of agreement, although the data is still not entirely clear. The names of two women, Elizabeth Davis and Anne Elizabeth Enfield, are repeatedly mentioned in the various sources, so it seems quite likely that James Berry was married twice. Three sources record the name of his wife as being Elizabeth Davis.7,93,95 One source notes that he was married twice (to Elizabeth Davis and Elizabeth Enfield) with the latter being listed as the second wife,96 while another researcher came to the conclusion that Elizabeth Davis was the second wife.101 The Augusta County, Virginia court records (which are the only primary source documents), verify that Elizabeth was the spouse of James Berry, although there is no mention of her maiden name.21 At this point, no determination can be absolutely made concerning the order of marriage (if indeed there is more than one wife), nor of any maiden names.